2021 PokerStars EPT Prague

€5,300 EPT Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info

2021 PokerStars EPT Prague

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
kq
Prize
€692,252
Event Info
Buy-in
€5,300
Prize Pool
€5,771,500
Entries
1,190
Level Info
Level
36
Blinds
250,000 / 500,000
Ante
500,000
Players Info - Day 1a
Entries
418
Players Left
134

Sinclair Tops Day 1a of 2021 PokerStars EPT Prague €5,300 Main Event

Level 10 : 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Jack Sinclair
Jack Sinclair

The first of two starting days for the crown jewel of the rescheduled 2021 PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Prague festival has concluded in the Czech capital. It was a very promising start for the €5,300 EPT Main Event in the King's Casino at the Hilton Hotel Prague as 377 unique players and 41 reentries created a field of 418 total entries.

It surpassed the 391 entries the very same tournament attracted during the last live edition back in 2019 and showcases a strong turnout across all events so far during the return to live poker for PokerStars' flagship series. After ten levels of 60 minutes each, only 134 players advanced and a familiar name appeared at the top of the leaderboard. The 2018 WSOP Europe Main Event champion Jack Sinclair sailed through the day and accumulated a stack of 317,900. He was very closely followed by Sharon Sade (312,200) while Ezequiel Waigel (258,800) occupies the final spot on the overnight podium.

EPT Prague €5,300 Main Event Day 1a Top 10 Counts

PositionPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds for Day 2
1Jack SinclairUnited Kingdom317,900199
2Sharon SadeIsrael312,200195
3Ezequiel WaigelArgentina258,800162
4Daniel DvoressCanada237,200148
5Boaz MadhalaIsrael227,700142
6Manuel FischerGermany211,600132
7Shai ArbelIsrael209,400131
8Gergely KulcsarHungary183,300115
9Duco ten HavenNetherlands177,200111
10Daniele LunarioItaly175,600110

Notables with above average stacks include Daniel Dvoress (237,200), Manuel Fischer (211,600), Karolis Sereika (169,000), Manuel Fritz (157,700), Pablo Brito Silva (126,700), Teun Mulder (115,800), Conor Beresford (114,800), Martin Pineiro (111,100), and Jordan Westmorland (109,600) to name all but a few familiar faces of the live poker circuit.

The PokerStars ambassadors Ramon Colillas (147,000) and Alejandro "Papo MC" Lococo (139,200) also had a productive day at the poker tables and advanced with very healthy stacks. For Lococo, it was a stellar finish to a remarkable day as he won the €1,100 Eureka Main Event earlier on before late-regging the marquee event. Steve Enriquez will join them for Day 2 with 53,300 while Sam Grafton and Parker Talbot were both eliminated.

Ramon Colillas
Ramon Colillas

Former EPT Main Event champions to bow out included Kalidou Sow, Davidi Kitai, Jasper Meijer Van Putten, Piotr Nurzynski, Simon Brandström, Ognyan Dimov, and Hossein Ensan. More fortunate were Uri Gilboa (80,000), Remi Castaignon (77,500), Dominik Panka (66,800), and Dimitar Danchev (64,700), as they all retained the chance to become the third two-time champion in EPT history.

The rise of Waigel started very early on as he dominated the first half of the day and quickly amassed a massive stack, soaring past seven times what he started with prior to the dinner break. Sinclair followed on his heels after winning several larger showdown pots and eventually rose to the top in the final level, beating Sade by a few big blinds only.

The High Roller regulars Thomas Muehloecker and Tom Vogelsang were just two of numerous notable casualties throughout Day 1a. Muehloecker was on the wrong end of a cooler when he improved on each street to a full house with ace-seven suited only to run into the aces full of Santiago Plante. For Vogelsang, the end came with a dominated pocket pair as fours couldn't beat the kings of Ranno Sootla. Other casualties in the first of two flights were Norbert Szecsi, Johan Guilbert, Christian Rudolph, Andras Nemeth, Vojtech Ruzicka, Mustapha Kanit, Nikita Luther, Kenny Hallaert, Alexandros Kolonias, Alexandros Theologis, and Vivian Saliba.

With nearly two thirds of the contenders already gone, all those that bowed out just once can take advantage of the single re-entry option for the flagship tournament. A significantly bigger field is expected for Day 1b, which will get underway at noon local time on Friday, March 11, 2022. The late registration remains open until the start of Day 2 and that's also when the live stream on the PokerStars Twitch and YouTube channels will kick off as well.

As usual, the PokerNews live reporting team will be on the floor from start to finish to provide as many of the key hands as possible en route to crowning the next EPT Main Event champion.

Tags: Conor BeresfordDaniel DvoressDominik PankaEzequiel WaigelHossein EnsanJack SinclairParker TalbotRamon ColillasRemi CastaignonSam GraftonSharon SadeSteve EnriquezThomas MuehloeckerTom VogelsangUri Gilboa